Martin von Hildebrand

Dr. Martín von Hildebrand "is a visionary and leader in the work to support forest communities and protect the ecosystems and biodiversity of the Amazon tropical forest. For almost 30 years Hildebrand has been carrying out critical work for the protection of indigenous rights, cultural and ecological diversity in Colombia. He combines the experience of living and working among the indigenous communities of the Colombian Amazon with a strong reputation for integrity and tenacity, which has led him to hold key positions of government.

"Martín has been the leading force in achieving collective indigenous rights to over 21 million hectares of tropical forest, and in stimulating a political will towards the inclusion of significant indigenous rights within the 1991 Political Constitution. He is the inspiration and founder of the COAMA Programme, winner of the Right Livelihood Award in 1999, and the Colombian NGO Fundación Gaia Amazonas. Hildebrand has written papers, academic and mainstream, on the ethnology and cosmovision of indigenous groups in the Colombian Amazon."


 * Associate, Gaia Foundation